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Happy Spenders and our Great(?) Economy
Whoa. I was at the brand new multi-thousand foot At Home décor store yesterday in North Palm Beach, FL. The hugely huge parking lot was jammed as were the too-many-to-count aisles. As you might imagine, the check-out line snaked around and you would have thought the joint was giving away stuff. They weren’t.
From there it was on to a Sunday stop at Costco and then Aldi’s. Jammola in both stores and their respective parking lots. I said something to the cashier at Costco about the crowd and he said, “It’s a great economy.”
Apparently it is.
Then again, Ford just announced it’s laying off about 10% of its 7,000 white collar work force with about 2,400 of the cuts coming to those in North America and 1,500 others to be eliminated via oluntary buyouts, according to CNN Business.
Then again, again, American households are now holding more debt than they did prior to the 2008 financial crisis. According to CNBC.com, 55% of U.S adults have credit card debt with 22% of them reporting the balances they carry range between $100 and $500 while10% have balances over $5,000.
But wait there’s more: Consumer sentiment is the highest it’s been in 15 years, according to a new University of Michigan survey.
“Consumers viewed prospect for the overall economy much more favorable, with the economic outlook for the near and longer term reaching their highest levels since 2004,” said Richard Curtin, chief economist for the Surveys of Consumers.
So happy moods are here again.
Then again, so far this year at least 10 stores– whose names we are all familiar with– are closing some of their stores. They include: Victoria’s Secret; JCPenny; Family Dollar; Gymboree; Payless ShoeSource; Charlotte Russe; GAP; Ann Taylor, Loft, Lane Brant: the Ascena Retail Group; Macy’s; and LifeWay Christian Stores.
Huh. I wonder how long our reportedly lowest unemployment rate in decades is going to last.
Market Quick Glance
Last week there were downers everywhere as in on both the year-to-date returns and 1-year ones for the DJIA, S&P500 and NASDAQ.
Below are the weekly and 1-year index performance results for the three major indices—DJIA, S&P 500 and NASDAQ — including the dates each reached new highs. Data is according to CNBC.com and based on prices at the close of business on Friday, May 17, 2019.
–DJIA 10.44% YTD down again from the previous week–it closed at 11.21%.
- 1 yr. Rtn 4.25% down again from the previous week 4.86%
Most recent DJIA a new ALL-TIME CLOSING HIGH was reached on Oct.3, 2018 of 26,951.81. The previous high was reached on Sept. 21, 2018 of 26,796.16.
-S&P 500 14.07% YTD down from the previous week’s 14.95%
- 1 yr. Rtn 5.12% down from the previous week’s 5.81%.
*****The S&P 500 reached a BRAND NEW CLOSING ALL-TIME HIGH on Friday April 26, 2019 of 2,939.88. The previous all-time closing high was on Sept. 21, 2018 of 2,940.91. Prior to that, the high of 2,916.50 was reached on August 29, 2018.
-NASDAQ 17.80% YTD down again from last week’s 19.32%.
- 1yr Rtn 5.88% way down from last week’s 6.91%.
*********Nasdaq reached a BRAND NEW All-Time CLOSING HIGH on Friday, April 26, 2019 of 8,146.40. Prior to that, the previous high of 8,1333.30 was reached on August 30, 2018. Before that, on August 24, 2018 reached it’s then all-time high of 7,949.71.
The slide continues.
At the close of business on Thursday, May 16, 2019, the year-to-date cumulative total reinvested performance of U.S. Diversified Equity Fund was 15.04%,according to Lipper. That’s down from the previous week’s close of 15.11%.
Even though there has been a slide in the average year-to-date returns, many different types of funds have average returns near 20% and more. A few of them under the large umbrella heading of U.S. Diversified Equity Funds include;
-Large-Cap Growth funds, 19.30%;
-Multi-Cap Growth funds, 19.50%;
-Mid-Cap Growth Funds, 22.51%;
-Small-Cap Growth funds, 20.73%;
-and Equity Leverage funds, 24.84%.
Visit www.allaboutfunds.com for more information about how various equity and fixed-income funds have rewarded investors over the short-and long-term, based upon Lipper data. Short-term meaning weekly and monthly performance returns; longer-term includes quarterly, year-to-date, 1-yr, 2-yr, 3-yr and 5-yr returns.


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In September 2022, Apple released the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, but the rumors about iPhone 15 had been going around about for a long time before that. The iPhone 15 won’t be out for a few more months, but Apple can’t keep its iPhone lineup a secret because it works with so many different companies.
There will be two iPhones with a 6.1-inch screen and two iPhones with a 6.7-inch screen. The iPhone 14 models are the same size as these. One of each size will be a regular iPhone 15, while the other two will be more expensive “Pro” models with more features.
The iPhone 15 Pro will have the best features, just like the iPhone 14. So far, rumors say that all models will have USB-C and that the standard iPhone 15 will get the Dynamic Island. Apple’s new devices will have modem chips from Qualcomm because Apple’s own modem chips aren’t ready yet.
The A16 chip in the regular iPhone 15 models will be improved, and the A17 chip in the iPhone 15 Pro models could be upgraded to 3-nanometer technology. The frames of pro models could be made of titanium, and their cameras could have periscope lens technology that would make zooming better.
Prices for the iPhone 15 models are likely to stay the same, with the basic 6.1-inch model starting at $799 and the 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Plus starting at $899. This article covers everything we know about the iPhone 15, and our separate iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max.
Table of Contents
Rumors on iPhone 15
USB-C for Charging
So far, the charging port on the iPhone has been the most talked-about design rumor. This is because the European Union has said that by 2024, all iPhones sold in the area must have a USB-C port. The question is whether Apple will change all iPhone models to USB-C or just the ones sold in the EU.
Apple already makes changes to iPhone models based on where they are sold, like it did with the iPhone 14: The SIM is electronic in the US version, but the SIM slot is still there in other versions. Avi Greengart, an analyst at Techsponential, thinks there are good reasons for Apple to switch all future iPhones to USB-C.
Greengart thinks it is more likely that Apple will switch all iPhones to USB-C around the time of the iPhone 16 to meet European regulations. This is because the power/data connector has a bigger effect on the ecosystem, security, and accessories.
Several rumors about the design of the iPhone 15 say that it could be curved like the iPhone 11 Pro Max. The edges of Apple’s latest iPhones are flat, but leakers say that all three devices could have thinner, curved bezels, even though the screens will still be flat.
The last iPhone to have a screen with curved edges was the iPhone 11 Pro Max. In the same way, the bump that holds the camera on the back of the iPhone 15 could have a different look. Even though it’s bigger and thicker than before, the rumors haven’t told us how.
Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo thinks that at least some of Apple’s phones will use USB-C, even though there are still rumors about an iPhone without ports. We think it might be a Pro feature if one doesn’t have a port. Mark Gurman also said that the iPhone 15 will have USB-C and that there will be a model with no ports in the future, but he didn’t say when.
In another report, Gurman says that all iPhone 15 models will have the Dynamic Island. This could encourage more developers to make apps that work with the changing camera cutout/display feature, which would make it even more useful.
Expected Specs And Features
The A17 Bionic chipset might be in the Pro models, while the A16 Bionic chipset might be in the other models. USB-C could be in all four phones. Some of the most important things about the iPhone 15 are almost certain to be true.
One report, for example, says that Apple is making the iPhone 15’s 3nm A17 Bionic chip. We could have guessed this on our own, since the A16 Bionic is used in the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max and 17 is one higher than 16.
On the other hand, one report goes into more depth. It says that the A17 Bionic should be more efficient than the A16 Bionic, which should help the battery last longer. But the older A15 Bionic chip was used in the iPhone 14, which was also used in the iPhone 13 Pro and 13 Pro Max.
Another report says that this new trend of non-Pro phones using older chipsets may continue. This claim has been made to us more than once. In other words, the A16 Bionic chip might be in the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus.
If Apple keeps doing what it did with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro, the A16 Bionic chip in the iPhone 15 will probably be the same as the one in the iPhone 14 Pro. On the other hand, the iPhone 15 Pro is likely to have a brand-new A17 chip, which will keep it different from other iPhones. TSMC, which has been making chips for a long time, is likely to use new 3nm chips for these A17 chips.
This will probably make them use less electricity and make less heat when they are running. The 3nm process can speed up chips by up to 15% with the same amount of power or save 30% of that power at the same speed as 5nm. There have been rumors that the iPhone 15 Pro line could get a big update with the A17 and 8GB of RAM.
Battery and Camera
The periscope on the top model could have a camera built in. We might see that the main camera on all four phones has 48MP. On the camera front, we’ve heard that the Pro models might have periscope cameras that should make the telephoto zoom better.
But some people says that the iPhone 15 Pro Max will really be called the iPhone 15 Ultra, since Apple uses this suffix in other places, and that it will have more features than the iPhone 15 Pro. One important example is the camera.
The iPhone 15 Pro is expected to have the same telephoto zoom lens as the iPhone 14 Pro, but the iPhone 15 Ultra is said to have a periscope lens for even more zooming, likely around 5x. So the periscope snapper might only be on the best phone.
This is something we’ve heard from several different people, so it seems very likely. But it’s not clear if the phone with the periscope camera will be called the Ultra or the Pro Max. But that’s not the only way to improve a camera.
Another source says that the iPhone 15 line will use a new Sony sensor that is up-to-date, takes in more light than current sensors, and keeps photos from being too bright or too dark. Also, analyst Jeff Pu says that all four models might have a 48MP main sensor, which would be an upgrade for the two cheapest models.
We don’t know much about the battery yet, but one report says that Apple is working on a charging feature that would let you use your iPhone to wirelessly charge other devices, like an Apple Watch. This feature has been talked about for years, so don’t get too excited, but it could be added.
When Are the iPhone 15 and 15 Pro Releasing?
The new iPhone 15 will probably be shown off early in September, probably on Tuesday, September 5 or 12, with a release date of September 15 or September 22. All signs point to the iPhone coming out this year in early September.
Apple announced the iPhone 14 line on September 6 and started taking pre-orders for it on September 9. Then, on September 16, people could buy them. A good guess for 2023 is that the iPhone 15 will be released on September 5.
Apple could also wait a week, announcing the product on September 12 and putting it on sale in stores on September 22. We have no reason to believe that the iPhone won’t come out in September like it always does.
Expected Price for the iPhone 15
The prices may be the same as they were last year. Except for the Plus, prices might go up instead of down. Again, we haven’t heard many leaks or rumors about the price, but the iPhone 14 range was a little more expensive than the equivalent iPhone 13 models. In 2023, when the iPhone 15 comes out, this could happen again.
There are four models of the iPhone 14, and here are the prices for the cheapest and most expensive ones: The iPhone 14 with 128GB of storage costs $799, £849, or AU$1,399. The iPhone 14 Pro Max 1TB costs $1,599, £749, or AU$2,769.
So, that’s the whole price range right now, even though there are many devices and storage options in between those points. As for the iPhone 15 line, one price rumor says that the iPhone 15 Ultra, a new phone that could replace the iPhone 15 Pro Max, will start at $1,199.
Based on how Apple usually sets its prices, this is likely to cost at most £1,309 or AU$2,099. If what the rumors are true, the next model would cost at least $100 more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max, which starts at $1,099/£1,199/AU$1,899.
That makes sense, especially since Apple has said that people will spend a lot of money on a phone. But a leak shows that the price of the iPhone 15 Plus might be less than the price of the iPhone 14 Plus. The iPhone 14 Plus isn’t selling very well, so this change is being made. For reference, the starting price for the iPhone 14 Plus is $899, £949, or AU$1,579.
Apple’s best phone has been called the Pro Max so far, but rumors say that could change this year. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg was the first to say that Apple might call the iPhone 15 Pro Max the iPhone 15 Ultra. This was done after the Apple Watch Ultra came out. It’s not clear what else might change, but there are rumors that the high-end iPhone 15 will have a new camera system that uses a periscope like the one described above. Gurman has since changed his mind about that prediction and said that the iPhone 15 Ultra might not come out this year but in 2024.

domain: news


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Morris Multimedia, looking for a flexible and cost-effective way to keep its newscasts modern and attractive, has decided to transition all 14 of its stations across the South to virtual sets from Vizrt.
Dean Hinson, president-CEO of the broadcast group, says the decision to scrap wood, plastic and metal for pixels and green screens will not only let stations update their sets at the click of a mouse, but also produce newscasts with different looks for different channels.
“Each of our stations at Morris put out more than one signal and those second channels each have their own branding,” Hinson says. “The decision to go virtual is an economic one, and it’s one based on space. We’ve watched the prices come down on the equipment to do this and are ready to move at a rapid pace.”
WWAY Wilmington, N.C. (DMA 131), went live from its virtual set in April and is launching a 10 p.m. newscast on its recently added CW subchannel in January, which will have its own unique look. WXXV Gulfport, Miss. (DMA 160), and its MNT subchannel, went live last month, and Hinson hopes to have the rest wrapped up by the end of 2014.
A virtual set is created using dedicated software from any of a handful of vendors, including Vizrt, Orad and Ross Video, and superimposing a 3D digital image of the desired set onto green screen, similar to how traditional weather forecasts are delivered on-air today. In a completely virtual environment, not only are the background and floor of the set a green screen, but so is the furniture, allowing the anchors to rest their hands on a virtualized desk.
More advanced virtual sets include camera tracking capabilities, like the one at Gray Television’s KKTV Colorado Springs, Colo. (DMA 89), allowing a camera to pan and zoom, showing different perspectives of the virtual set, without worrying about the digital image breaking up. The station, which was featured on TVNewsCheck last week, is in the middle of a major rebuild that uses virtual sets and augmented reality graphics.
Citing costs, Morris stations opted against tracking capabilities. Instead, cameras will stay in one position and won’t be able to zoom or pan. The Vizrt software does allow for a digital zoom effect, showing a wide shot of the virtual set before focusing on the talent at the anchor desk.
In Wilmington, the transition from WWAY’s hard set to the virtual set was striking. The hard set consisted of an oval desk made of oak on red carpeting with two vertical monitors in each corner. The virtual set, accented with brushed metal on the edges of furniture and the floor, looks as if it is in a warehouse. In reality, the station uses only about 350 square feet of space.
“It looks like something you’d see in New York or Los Angeles,” says Andy Combs, GM of WWAY.
U.S. broadcasters have long complained that virtual sets do not look realistic, says David Jorba, SVP of Vizrt Americas, but such complaints are misplaced.
“Based on the technology today, designers can accomplish that hyper-realistic look to the point where it’s indistinguishable to the average viewer at home,” he says. “Europe has been doing this for a long time because they don’t try to be realistic. They like the big white spaces and that more abstract look. U.S. TV stations want something that looks realistic.”
The futuristic, digitized look isn’t necessarily a bad thing, adds Combs. “The younger generation is used to seeing this type of look. They grew up with video games — that virtual environment is familiar to them. We want to continue appealing to the younger demographic because they’ll eventually become our older demographic.”
Cost was a major factor in the decision to go virtual, Combs says.
While shopping for new playout servers, switchers and graphics at the 2012 NAB Show for WWAY’s new conventional studio, Combs came across the Vizrt booth and learned that its Viz Virtual Studio box could perform the function of all that gear for $140,000 rather than the $160,000 he had budgeted.
“So right away, we saved $20,000 plus about $150,000 that we would have budgeted for a new set that we would have been stuck with for the next 10 years. We would have had the same look, the same 10 camera shots, same desk, same backdrop,” he says. “This was a smart investment.”
The software for the virtual news set that WWAY uses today costs only $150 and was downloaded much like a user would buy a song from iTunes. The virtual set the station uses for its Friday night high school sports show cost about the same.
Come the 2014 election, Hinson says to expect a radical new look that will rival network-level sets. He declined to talk specifics of what viewers can expect.
Combs says news of the virtual set has also made its way around Wilmington, which is commonly referred to as Hollywood East because of the high number of films and commercials shot there. He says companies have already started to approach him about renting space and offering to buy the virtual environment that the station would ultimately be able to keep on its system.
“We’re actually seeing a return-on-investment from our virtual sets,” Combs says. “We’re now doing commercial production for commercials that will be running nationwide, not just local. It’s becoming a great additional source of revenue, which all stations are looking for right now.”
Billy Stratton, WWAY chief engineer, says the nightly newscasts, depending on the amount of breaking news, can be operated with just one person. The operator, using a few monitors, can switch between different shots and live feeds at the click of a mouse, and throw in graphics all from the same user interface.
“I like to think of it as a studio-in-a-box because everything inside lets us run our newscast,” he says. “For a typical newscast, we stack the show up ahead of time really and only need someone to hit a button to advance it.
“If it’s just a normal, nightly show, a 5-year-old could run our newscast.”
Andrew Dodson is TVNewsCheck‘s technology editor. Follow him on Twitter @AndrewDodson. Dodson also writes TVNewsCheck‘s technology blog, Playout.


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A life beyond dairying
Many thought they were crazy to quit dairying just as it was starting to take off, but for Karen and Daryl Trafford it was a way to get back to farming their land in a more natural way. Now, after converting their 912-hectare property up the Lower Wangapeka valley back into sheep and beef, they are about to take their diversification a step further by opening a small cheesery.
Using high-protein milk from a small herd of organically farmed cows, they intend producing cheeses and dairy products using traditional methods, but with a modern twist. Their venture, which is still going through its final compliance checks, has already sparked a flurry of interest from customers wanting to try their products after they earned a highly commended placing in the dairy section of the recent Taste Farmers’ Markets Awards.
It is a far cry from their previous life as fulltime dairy farmers. For 22 years they supplied Fonterra, first as sharemilkers in Opotiki, then Ashburton, before buying their Wangapeka farm and converting it to milk 600 cows. But in 2008 they sold their stock and shares, tired of carrying such huge debt and the daily high production grind, and worried about the long-term effect such intensive farming was having on their land.
‘‘Some people thought we were mad to leave the industry when it was moving to a high and we were just about to reap the benefits,’’ Ms Trafford said, ‘‘but it was a way of lowering our debt and getting back to what we really wanted to do. ‘‘You get caught up in it and forget why you are there.’’ Although dairying had been good to them, they had always hankered to return to sheep and beef, with its less rigid lifestyle and lower environmental impact. With large areas of regenerating bush, some good walks and trout in the rivers, they wanted to preserve their ‘‘beautiful farm’’ for their four children, she said. While her husband runs almost 2000 ewes, 700 hoggets and 660 cattle on the 550ha of usable land, Ms Trafford experiments with producing food for the local market using a mixture of organic and biodynamic principles.
For a year they have been selling a small proportion of their prime lambs – processed and packaged by an abattoir in Cheviot – at the Nelson Farmers’ Market and direct from their gate. Fattened to 21-22 kilograms for taste rather than the 18-19kg required for export and priced below what supermarkets usually charge, they have drawn an encouraging response from ‘‘It’s the opposite of what we did before. We are not farming for production, we are farming for a good quality milk.’’ Karen Trafford customers struggling to find affordable cuts. ‘‘It’s been all word of mouth. We haven’t advertised.’’ Ms Trafford passionately believes that the better animals are fed and treated, the healthier and more wholesome their products will be.
She hopes her homegrown, uncomplicated approach strikes a chord among people interested in knowing how their food has been grown and what has gone into it. The same concepts are being applied to their cheesemaking, which stemmed from the enthusiastic feedback she got when asked to supply raw milk for a cheese course several years ago.
Her 25 jersey shorthorns, divided into summer and winter herds to give them a break, are milked just once day on 20ha and often keep their calves for up to five weeks. As well as being more relaxed, they produce a higher protein, creamy milk ideal for cheesemaking. Whereas a Fonterra herd might produce 1kg of cheese from 10 litres of milk, her cows produce 2kg. ‘‘It’s the opposite of what we did before. We are not farming for production, we are farming for a good quality milk.’’ In a bid to further improve it, they plan to mate their pure texas longhorn bulls with some heifers. She doesn’t use urea or nitrogen, relying instead on organic fertilisers to boost pastures that have been planted in a mix of grasses and herbage, including chicory, alfalfa and lucerne, to make them nutrient-rich. ‘‘We’re not looking at a straight paddock of ryegrass; it’s like a salad smorgasbord.’’ Animals are treated with homoeopathic remedies – some- thing she has always done – and she is investigating making her own natural drenches.
Getting the cheesery, which operates out of a converted 104-year-old cottage, operating has been time-consuming and costly. Despite its tiny size, the risk management rules are the same as for large factories, with numerous and regular audits and batch testing. ‘‘As a dairy farm you had one audit a year. Now we have six.’’ There are separate checks of their cowshed, pasteuriser and commercial kitchen, which so far has cost more than $12,000. If it wasn’t for the farm, Ms Trafford said she would have thought twice about taking on such a project as most artisan cheesemakers she knew barely drew a wage. It will take another month of testing before Wangapeka is cleared to begin selling direct to the public and at the market, although that hasn’t stopped restaurants and delicatessens ringing up.
In the meantime, she and her two staff have been busy making an array of cheeses and dairy products, including Greek yoghurt, cultured butter, ghee, A simpler way: Karen Trafford in the five-bay milking shed that Wangapeka Cheese uses to milk its cows. It replaces a 50-bay rotary milking shed. double cream and clotted cream. Some, such as the yoghurt, are made the traditional way of being hung in a cloth to remove the whey. As well as feta, camembert and brie, they are also making mozzarella, which Ms Trafford learnt from 82-year-old Nelson Italian woman Maria Romano.
Other skills she picked up from local cheesemakers, and she is quick to pay tribute to her mentor, Mapua Country Trading owner Heather Cole. While these products will provide cashflow, excess milk is being used to produce hard cheeses and Wangapeka hopes to release its own parmesan in a year or two. Although full of ideas for further growth, Ms Trafford isn’t getting too far ahead of herself. Their daily milk production of 300 litres is just a drop compared to what they used to pump out of their 50-bay rotary shed and that’s the way it will stay until it proves itself one way or another, she said. ‘‘Rather than spending thousands upon thousands starting up a business, we are better to take little steps. It’s got to be sustainable.’’ It was a ‘‘little template’’ which they could expand. ‘‘If it works well, then in five years the farm could be milking 300 cows using the same concept. One day it would it would be lovely to be farming this whole farm for the domestic market.’’
THE NELSON MAIL Tuesday, July 12, 2011


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China and some other countries, however, have approved aminopterin for use as a rat poison, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports that the lethal concentration of the chemical is three parts per million (ppm) for rats; the amount found in the contaminated food samples was 40 ppm. There is speculation that the poison got into the chow because Chinese farmers sprayed their crops, including wheat, with it to protect them from hungry rodents.
Stephen Sundlof, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, says, however, that the agency's investigation is not limited to wheat gluten. "It is certainly a likely suspect," he said during a press conference, "but there are other suspects and we will continue to look at all components of the feed." Tuite, the Menu Foods spokesperson, said the company is "still trying to figure out how [aminopterin] got into the food, so I think at this stage, it would be irresponsible of us to identify exactly what ingredient it was on until we know definitively."
Sundlof noted that the FDA has the same authority over pet food as it does over most of the human food supply. "There are really no differences in the regulation of animal food and the regulation of human food," he says. "The same people that inspect human food plants also inspect pet food plants," grading the facilities as high- or low-risk, and then monitoring the high-risk venues more carefully.
"Traditionally, pet food producers are considered to be low-risk because, with few exceptions and this certainly being one of those exceptions, pet food is very safe," Sundlof adds. "We have not had a lot of illnesses in pets as a result of pet food." David Elder, director of the Office of Surveillance and Compliance in the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said during an earlier press conference that the agency relies more on testing and approving animal foods and drugs before they are put on sale, rather than on routine inspection due to "limited resources."
Details of the recall began to haunt Jim Valentine, who remembered that although he ordinarily fed Silvus dry food, he had splurged on Iams Select Bites in early February. His younger cat, Tiki, wouldn't touch the stuff, but Silvus could not get enough. Valentine alternated the fancy fare with dry food. Three weeks later, he bought a second pouch of the wet food. Then he began noticing some physical changes in Silvus after a few more of the moist meals. Most notably, the cat had developed a swollen bottom lip and had lost a considerable amount of weight. He also stopped eating. Valentine assumed Silvus was avoiding hard food because he was spoiled by the wet treat, so he offered up more of the Select Bites.
About four weeks after first purchasing the soft nuggets, Valentine took the previously healthy and now declining Silvus to the vet. The diagnosis was kidney failure. Silvus—whose weight had plummeted nearly 30 percent from 18 pounds to 13 pounds—had enlarged kidneys. He also had extremely high levels of creatinine (a by-product of the breakdown of phosphocreatine, an energy-storage molecule in muscle) normally eliminated by the kidneys and extremely elevated levels of BUN (blood urea nitrogen), which measures the amount of the waste product urea (a by-product of protein digestion).
The vet administered fluids intravenously, but the blood levels did not improve. Three days later Silvus was dead. Valentine put the rest of his cat's coveted wet food outside for the neighborhood cats to eat. Now, he is worried he may have inadvertently poisoned them, too. "[One of the recalled brands] is exactly the same brand that I had started to feed Silvus," says Valentine, who notes that product numbers on his packages of Iams wet food fell just outside of the range of recalled products. The date codes on his packages were 6256 and 6293; the recall range extends from 6339 to 7073. Nevertheless, Valentine believes that his cat was a victim of food poisoning, raising the question of whether the recall was wide enough.


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Hotels in Middle East have highest occupancy
March 1: A study conducted by Deloitte, a business consultancy, and STR Global has revealed that hotels in the Middle East have had highest hotel occupancy in the world last year. According to the study, hotels in the region also have highest room rates and revenue per available room (revPar).
Hotel occupancy in the Middle East hit 61.3 per cent in 2009 while average room rates and revPar were $202 and $124 respectively. “RevPAR stands US$44 higher than Europe, the next best performing region. The amount of new room supply that entered Middle East last year intensified drops in occupancy, and put downward pressure on average room rates. However, the first signs of recovery are on the horizon,” said Alex Kyriakidis, Global Managing Partner of Tourism Hospitality & Leisure at Deloitte.
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Blames add-ons for the majority of its problems.
Here is how it would work:
After releasing the final version of Google Chrome 15 a couple of weeks ago, the search giant has since then pushed Google Chrome 16 into a Beta channel, which includes a really smart feature.
Google Chrome 16 Beta Changelog
As with every software release, you can expect various bug and security related fixes. However, the one feature that has been added is a support for multiple profiles on a same computer.
Maxthon recently released the newest stable version of their browser, bringing along several improvements, new features, and fixes. Some of these had previously been introduced in beta builds 22.214.171.1240 and 126.96.36.1990. Find below a summary of the changelog.
Maxthon 188.8.131.520 Changelog Summary
- MaxSnap: Added printer colors with white. Supported arrow keys to select screenshot area. Supported to adjust the selected area size with Ctrl+arrow keys.
- Now supports “Snap Whole Page” in Retro Mode.
It looks like it’s been a busy week for Mozilla as it has just released the Alpha 2 version of Firefox 10.
Although it’s yet to include some of the anticipated features, such as: redesigned user interface and automatic bookmark import from Google Chrome web browser, Firefox 10 has implemented Anti-Aliasing for WebGL and few other goodies.
Even though the Final build of Firefox 8 web browser was released just little than a week ago, Mozilla has already began working on future versions and has now released the Firefox 9 Beta.
So what’s new?
Less than a week after releasing the first Opera 11.60 Build, Norwegian browser maker has finished things up and already released the very first Beta.
As we mentioned earlier, Opera 11.60 includes all the Opera 12 Alpha features minus the hardware acceleration.


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PlayStation and Koei Tecmo have released a new trailer for Fairy Tail RPG! The trailer showcases the town of Magnolia, home to the Fairy Tail Guild. In Magnolia, players may maintain the guild, accept requests and much more. Check out the trailer below:
Fairy Tail RPG releases on March 20th for PS4 and Switch with the PC version arriving the day prior. Stay tuned at Final Weapon for the latest Japanese gaming news!


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Rosy Jobs Report Has Hidden Thorns
Click To Unmute
What You Missed: Long-term interest rates fell while equities continued their rise as markets digested a semi-rosy jobs report. The yield on the benchmark US 10-year Treasury note declined to 1.43% from 1.49%, while short-term rates, like 1-month LIBOR, SOFR and BSBY, traded off their lows, but remain anchored near zero. The price of a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil climbed to $75.05, hitting its highest level since 2018, as the US Dollar and Gold both strengthened. Treasury yield volatility, a key driver of the cost of rate caps, swaptions and other option-based interest rate derivatives, fell throughout the week.
Have you been sideswipped by the LIBOR Transition? We know how your feel. CLICK HERE to sign-up for our new LIBOR Transition 10 Minute Webinar. In no time you’ll be up to speed and empowered to explain what’s happening to your boss and teammates.
June’s Jobs report not as rosy as headlines suggest. The monthly jobs report – historically the single most impactful piece of economic data on interest rates – showed solid hiring progress in June, with 850K in new jobs created, accelerating from 583K in May, and posting the strongest job-creation momentum since August 2020. With revisions, employment in April and May combined was 15k higher than previously reported. A rise in the unemployment rate to 5.9% (vs. prior 5.8%) came despite a stall in labor participation. Adjusted for the overall drop in participation over the course of the pandemic, the jobless rate was steady at 8.4% in June. Finally, consumer wages, a critically important component to the post-pandemic economic recovery, necessary ingredient for sustained inflation, and ultimate driver of higher interest rates, rose 0.3%, in line with expectations.
Our take: As we expected, and helping to sideline the inflation debate, an influx of low-wage workers into the leisure and hospitality sector (343K of June’s 850K new job total) helped hold down growth in wages overall, even as corporate earnings in that sector rose a robust 1.0%. The dynamic confirms upward pressure on wages at the low end of the pay scale, but also shows that higher wages aren’t showing up yet more broadly. For inflation to truly get out of hand on a sustained basis, and for interest rates to rise consistently and stay higher, we’ll need to see broad wage pressures across sectors and pay scales.
Despite the robust 850K in new jobs last month, the post-pandemic jobs recovery poses a conundrum. There is still a yawning 7.5 million shortfall in employment from pre-pandemic levels, but 3.5 million have left the labor force entirely, even while jobs are plentiful, so firms are experiencing unprecedented difficulties hiring workers. With a broader acceleration in economic activity last month and a wave of states ending enhanced unemployment benefits this month, even more improvement on the jobs front are likely around the corner. The big test will be the back-to-school season, and a full end to the unemployment benefits top-up in September. Will the end of enhanced unemployment benefits ease the labor shortage? Not necessarily because many low wage earners have more opportunities for higher paying jobs with benefits such as child and health care.
In the meantime, the jobs data should be sufficient to give the Fed confidence to move the tapering dialogue forward this summer. The Fed’s required “substantial further progress” in the economy should be much clearer this fall, with an actual reduction in the Fed’s asset purchases to commence in early 2022, and the first rate hike following in early 2023. Until then, expect long-term rates to stay largely range-bound and muted wage gains and steady declines in goods prices to slowly turn down the heat on the inflation debate.
A quick recap of US housing trends. US home prices experienced an annual gain of 14.6% in April, up from a 13.3% increase in March, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index. Charlotte, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver and Seattle saw their largest annual gains. However, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index, weekly mortgage demand fell 6.9% for the week, representing the lowest level in almost 18 months. Pending home sales, a measure of signed contracts on existing homes, jumped 8% in May compared with April (a 1% drop was expected), according to the National Association of Realtors. This represents the highest level of sales activity for May since 2005. In June, new listings increased 5.5% year over year and 10.9% compared with May, according to Realtor.com.
Manufacturing gauge implies goods prices will stay red-hot through the summer. The Institute of Supply Management’s ISM index – the key gauge that measures new orders, production, employment, supplier deliveries, and inventories at America’s factories – showed supply constraints remained extreme in June, including those for labor, but details hinted at turning the corner. Delivery delays backed off the highest reading since 1974, as did order backlogs. Yet comments show factories red-lined to meet strong demand last month, signaling a hot summer ahead for goods prices. Optimism remains high, but factories are bemoaning the fact sales could be even stronger. The struggle to meet strong demand emanates mainly from difficulties in hiring and retaining labor, as well as sourcing key inputs.
Our take: As we said last week, consumers, eager to get back to pre-pandemic habits, are set to rotate spending toward services in the remainder of the year, helping supply-constrained goods suppliers to catch up, therefore easing price pressures and making room for inflation to mellow into next year. The expiration of enhanced unemployment benefits in late summer and schools reopening in the fall will only add to the inflation-easing momentum. Pockets of stimulus-fueled goods demand may take the edge off some categories in the months ahead, but service-sector reopening will create its own supply challenges.
ISDA’s new IBOR fallbacks have come into effect: Are you a borrower? Do you own an interest rate cap or have an interest rate swap? It’s critical that you understand the IBOR fallbacks to avoid potentially negative financial consequences down the road. Get educated here: The ISDA IBOR Fallback Protocol and What it Means for You
What to Watch This Week:
In a light data week, the key focus in the days ahead will be Wednesday’s release of the minutes of the Fed’s June 16 monetary policy meeting. Every syllable discussing the timing, composition and criteria for the taper will be scrutinized. We suspect the minutes will help flesh out the Fed’s rationale for beginning to “talk about tapering” even as Fed Chair Powell indicated in the post-meeting press conference that the Committee still judged “substantial further progress” as still “a ways off.”
As we’ve said repeatedly, we expect the Fed to begin broadcasting its plans for tapering this fall, commencing actual tapering of its asset purchases in early 2022, and eventually hike rates in early 2023.
On the data front, the key releases this week are the ISM services report on Tuesday, and the jobless claims report on Thursday. For the former, we’ll be searching for detail on whether the sector’s lagged reopening means supply and demand imbalances are intensifying, just as manufacturing pressures began to turn the corner. If so, inflation pressures will continue to run hot through the summer.
There are no speaking engagements from Fed officials this week.
Big Picture: While it’s fun to talk about the details of job growth, wages, inflation, and the like, what it all comes down to is how much or how little these factors are contributing to economic growth. Moderate top-line earnings growth, anemic working hours, and a rise in the unemployment rate suggest that blow out Q2 growth projections are too much. The jobs market is improving, no doubt, but factories struggling to keep up with demand is a constraint on real growth. While higher wages hurts profits, the long-term gain should increase profits because the consumer has more money to spend. With the June ISM showing that factory strains eased only slightly in the month, combined with the consumer’s slow transition from goods toward services spending in the remainder of the year, America’s recovery – and any sustained rise in interest rates – will be slow and bumpy.
Current Select Interest Rates:
Rate Cap & Swap Pricing:
Source: Bloomberg Professional
Source: Bloomberg Professional


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USA: Abercrombie T-shirt 'Offensive' - Governor
The men's T-shirts, which carry the slogan 'It's all relative in West Virginia' superimposed over a map of the American state, were "offensive" and "inaccurate" according to Governor Bob Wise.
In a letter to Abercrombie CEO Michael Jeffries, Wise asked that the Ohio-based retailer drop the T-shirt from its range.
"I write to you today to demand that you immediately remove this item from your stores and your print and online catalogues," he wrote.
"This item subjects our youth to unsubstantiated and false impressions of West Virginia.
"By selling and marketing this offensive item, your company is perpetuating an inaccurate portrayal of the people of this great state.
"Indeed, such a depiction of West Virginians undermines our collective efforts to communicate a positive representation of the spirit and values of our citizens."
Despite the protest, Abercrombie corporate communications director Tom Lennox said the company had nothing against the state.
"We love West Virginia," Lennox said.
"We love California, Florida, Connecticut, Hawaii and Nebraska, too.
"Abercrombie & Fitch was born and raised in the USA and we honour all 50 states in the union."
- New wage ladder lifts workers towards living wages
- US retailers to face logistics issues into 2015
- New scenarios driving sustainability in textiles
- African apparel sector needs cooperation to thrive
- UK fashion sector prospects depend on partnerships
- Bangladesh worker dies as factory boiler ruptures
- Eight footwear factories lead on social compliance
- Global unions join forces on apparel wage poverty
- US firms eye Vietnam footwear growth ahead of TPP
- J Crew embarks on new expansion phase


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Marlboro (@marlboroofficial) • Instagram photos and videos.
Can I post cigarettes on Instagram?
In a follow-up statement, Facebook and Instagram announced what many saw as a long-overdue update to their policy on tobacco. It said that branded content that promotes goods such as vaping, tobacco products and weapons “will not be allowed”.
Is Marlboro more harmful?
The newly released study found that Philip Morris’ Marlboro, which are made using highly sophisticated production techniques, contain significantly higher levels of one of the most dangerous carcinogens found in tobacco smoke than locally made brands in countries around the world.
Can I show alcohol on Instagram?
Buying or selling alcohol products between private individuals is not allowed. May not post content that attempts to buy, sell, trade, donate or gift alcohol products if it is not posted by a Page, Group, or Instagram Profile representing a real brick and mortar store, legitimate website, or brand.
Are you allowed to post alcohol on Instagram?
Facebook and Instagram users are no longer allowed to utilize any of the platforms’ functions to privately sell, trade, transfer, or gift alcohol or tobacco products, per a new policy that rolled out yesterday. … Only content specifically intended to sell alcohol and tobacco is impacted by this new rule.
How many cigarettes a day is heavy smoking?
Background: Heavy smokers (those who smoke greater than or equal to 25 or more cigarettes a day) are a subgroup who place themselves and others at risk for harmful health consequences and also are those least likely to achieve cessation.
What is the safest cigarette?
Let’s take a look.
- West White. Tar 2 mg. Nicotine 0.2 mg. …
- Glamour Super Slims Amber. Tar 1 mg. Nicotine 0.2 mg. …
- Davidoff One, Davidoff one Slims. Tar 1 mg. …
- Virginia Slims Superslims. Tar 1 mg. …
- Winston Xsence white Mini. Imperial tobacco. …
- Pall Mall Super Slims Silver. Tar 1 mg. …
- Camel One. Tar 1 mg. …
- Marlboro Filter Plus One. Tar 1 mg.
How many cigarettes a day is safe?
“We know that smoking just one to four cigarettes a day doubles your risk of dying from heart disease,” he says. “And heavy smokers who reduce their smoking by half still have a very high risk of early death.”
Who is the target audience that alcohol companies aim for?
Men age 18 to 49 drink the most, according to the Gallup poll, which explains why so much alcohol marketing seems to target them. Women are also a targeted demographic for alcohol use. Sixty-seven percent of women between 18 and 49 report that they drink alcohol.
What is shopping on Instagram?
Shops are an immersive fullscreen storefront that enable businesses to build their brand story and drive product discovery — all in a native shopping experience. … People can visit a shop from a business’ Instagram profile or through Feed and Stories.
Can I sell tobacco on Instagram?
Facebook and Instagram will no longer allow influencers to promote vaping, tobacco products or weapons on its platforms using “branded content.” … Users see a “paid partnership with” tag on a post when viewing that branded content on Instagram. This change closes a loophole in Facebook’s advertising policies.


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As you kick off the week, here are five things making news in the cannabis industry:
- New Blog: Week 1: A Recap of Ontario’s Debut into Legal Cannabis Retail. After months of speculation and anticipation, Canada’s largest province opened its doors to legal cannabis retail stores on April 1. Here are the highs and lows of Week 1.
- Ontario is introducing changes to how cannabis is sold across the province, including lifting the cap of 25 retail stores and providing $40-million over two years to help implement the costs of recreational cannabis. As Global News reports, the government is also calling on the federal government to take steps in addressing the national cannabis supply shortage to ensure there is an adequate and predictable supply of recreational cannabis from licensed producers.
- Research news: Canadian cannabis company Tetra Bio Pharma collaborates to find treatment for a type of cancer that took the lives of Senator John McCain and singer Gordon Downey. As the Regina Leader-Post reports, the collaboration agreement will lead to targeted delivery of cannabinoids to brain tumor cells.
- The number of injured veterans using medical cannabis has skyrocketed, according to Veterans Affairs Canada, while opioid use has decreased. As CTV reports, in the last five years, payouts for veterans’ opioid prescriptions for fentanyl have dropped 85 per cent, while payouts for oxycodone have dropped by 75 per cent.
- Food for Thought: Legalization has caused the price of cannabis to increase by about 17 per cent but people who are buying it legally are paying about 57 per cent more than black market buyers. As CBC reports, Statistics Canada says the price has jumped most in New Brunswick and least in B.C.


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A company is helping to promote the UK’s exhibition and trade show venues with the launch of a new multi-lingual website.
Hipperholme-based Quantum Exhibitions & Displays Ltd aims to expand its international presence in the exhibition stand design and build industry with the website, which in languages including German, French, Italian, Dutch and Chinese.
Linda Softley (above), marketing manager at the firm, based at Brow Mills Industrial Estate, said the website would give businesses overseas a clearer opportunity for exhibiting in the UK – and emphasise the cost benefits of them using a UK-based business with experience of UK venues and trade shows.
She said: “The UK is a dynamic trading nation with hundreds of exhibition shows across the country. The UK business markets have a historic reputation built upon centuries of developing trade routes, foreign investment and building business opportunities.
“We share a language with a third of the world’s population which makes the UK the perfect choice to grow your business presence and highlight your products and services.
“By exhibiting in the UK companies can expect to ‘internationalise’ their services and target market by looking beyond their domestic markets and exploiting new opportunities.”


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Surge comes after customers able to use indoor hospitality for first time this year.
According to data from research consultancy CGA, average sales at reopening restaurants were 24.9 per cent higher on Monday, 17 May, than on the equivalent Monday in May 2019.
Food sales were up 29.6 per cent in England and Wales, while drink sales were up by 21.2 per cent, according to data shared with The Press Association.
The surge of sales came as customers were able to eat inside restaurants, pubs and bars again for the first time this year.
CGA’s market recovery monitor suggested that only around a third (32.9 per cent) of Britain’s licensed establishments were able to trade in April.
That means the majority of restaurants were unable to reopen until this week.
In a statement, Jonny Jones, CGA’s managing director for the UK and Ireland said: “Consumers have been waiting a very long time to get back inside restaurants, pubs and bars, and Monday’s trading was a sign of how much Britain’s hospitality industry has been missed.”
“Venues still face some tough restrictions, and in the case of late-night bars, nightclubs and venues with limited space, remain closed completely. But after a very difficult start to 2021, Monday was a very welcome step on the road map to recovery, however there is still a long way to go and continued support for the sector will be necessary,” Mr Jones said.
UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls said the numbers “are a welcome reminder that the sector is much-loved by its customers and Monday was the first time many venues had opened since December – five long, hard months with no revenue.
“As we’ve seen previously, we often see a reopening bounce in sales, followed by a dip, so we hope these positive figures continue in the coming weeks.
“It is critical that Government restores consumer confidence in hospitality and restores our ability to trade profitably by removing all restrictions on June 21 as planned – let’s not forget that all of these businesses which are open are still making a loss until they do.”
Additional reporting by PA


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Apple released the third public beta of iOS 10 today, one day after releasing the fourth developer beta. Both updates deliver the same additions and updates, delivering new gender equal emoji and a mini tutorial on how to swipe through the new control center layout.
Only small tweaks have been made in this latest version, indicating a final release may be nearing.
One of the most noteworthy changes is the introduction of 100 new and redesigned emoji, including the new gender diverse line of working men and women.
The latest beta also has a built-in tutorial on how to use iOS 10’s new swipe-through control center, and has added the date to the top right of the notification center.
Additionally, for those rare individuals who actually keep their keyboard sounds on, backspace now sounds different from other key presses, and space, shift, return and the number/emoji toggle all have new sounds.
To participate in the beta, iPhone users with a spare device — or users brave enough to risk their primary device on a potentially buggy build — can enroll in the Apple Beta Software Program at beta.apple.com.
Related reading: 10 of the biggest changes coming in iOS 10


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Changsha County, an inland locality in central China's Hunan Province also called Xingsha, saw local economic and trade cooperation with Africa burgeoning during the Third China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE).
On July 1 when the county hosted the First Xingsha·Africa Economic and Trade Exchange Meeting during the expo, contracts for 14 related programs involving investment of 1.5 billion U.S. dollars were signed, marking new China-Africa cooperation in sectors such as manufacturing, energy, urban infrastructure, agricultural industrialization and the tertiary industry.
As a county whose foreign trade approached 130 billion yuan and trade with Africa partners exceeded 7.0 billion yuan in 2022, Xingsha has been unlocking the potential of opening up-driven development in recent years.
To expand the share of local engineering machinery, electronic information, agriculture and other industries in China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, Changsha County has made unremitting efforts to encourage grouped going global of advantageous industries.
Engineering machinery giant Sany Group is a vivid example of how local manufacturers explored the African market. Since 2002 when its first batch of land levelers were exported to Morocco, the company has been operating on the continent for 20 years and reaped nearly 17 billion yuan of sales revenue in Africa, ranking the first among all its Chinese peers.
Thanks to the 40-plus years of friendship with African nations, Changsha County inked during the meeting a memorandum of understanding for sister regions with Rwamagana in the Eastern Province of Rwanda to further the China-Africa friendship. The two sides pledged to communicate and cooperate in economic and trade, sci-tech, culture, sports, agriculture, and tourism sectors.
Meanwhile, Changsha County chamber of commerce for boosting China-Africa economic and trade was inaugurated on July 1 to serve as a bridge to connect the county with its African counterparts to spur related investment and opening up.
Fu Xuming, secretary with CPC Changsha County committee, said the county is striving to provide the most convenient business environment, heart-warming services and excellent working conditions for enterprises and friends from Africa to invest, live and work comfortably in Changsha County.
By joining hands with Africa, it will also contribute more to China-Africa cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and in building a community of shared future, Fu noted.
Original link: https://en.imsilkroad.com/p/334872.html
SOURCE: Xinhua Silk Road


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May 15, 2018
Atom Tickets, the app-based paperless movie ticket platform May 15 announced a deal with Landmark Theatres, which is owned by Dallas Mavericks owner and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban.
The deal affords Atom Tickets –which is financially backed by Lionsgate and 20thCentury Fox Film – access to Landmark Theatre’s 53 theatres and 255 screens. The exhibitor ups Atom’s total reach to more than 20,000 screens across North America.
With exhibitors feeling the crunch from over-the-top video and alternative entertainment options, indie theaters such Landmark eye Atom Tickets as a means of putting consumers in seats.
Landmark recently inked a revenue-sharing deal with MoviePass, the controversial subscription-based ticket service enabling members daily access to one screening for a $9.95 monthly fee.
The free Atom app and website offer movie reviews, trailers and synopses to guide consumers about moviegoing options. Atom offers streamlined ordering of tickets and concessions from any Android or iOS phone. At the theater, users go directly to the ushers and concession counters, where they scan a QR code at tablet kiosks.
“We’re excited to partner with Atom Tickets as yet another way to provide the best moviegoing experience to our guests,” Cuban said in a statement.


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Samsung launches 4G-enabled Galaxy On7 Pro, On5 Pro
The front camera can also recognise palm gestures to click selfies and is capable of clicking 120 degree wide “groupfies”.
Samsung India on Wednesday launched two new 4G-enabled smartphones -- Galaxy On7 Pro and Galaxy On5 Pro -- for users on the go who want to remain socially updated.
Made in India, Galaxy On7 Pro and Galaxy On5 Pro will be available in gold and black colours on etailer amazon.in from July 12 for ₹11,190 and ₹9,190, respectively.
"Both Galaxy On7 Pro and Galaxy On5 Pro are the perfect smartphones with Innovations like ultra data saving (UDS) and S bike mode for users who want a mix of style, portability and power. The new devices will enable users to seamlessly integrate their personal and professional lives," said Manu Sharma, Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India Electronics, in a statement.
The UDS mode ensures up to 50 percent mobile data savings by blocking unnecessary background applications from consuming data.
The devices come with the large HD 5.5-inch (Galaxy On7 Pro) and HD 5-inch (Galaxy On5 Pro) display.
The devices are powered by a 2GB RAM. While Galaxy On7 Pro has 3,000mAh battery, Galaxy On5 Pro has 2,600mAh battery.
Both the devices offer storage space of 16GB, expandable up to 128GB.
The phones feature a powerful primary (13MP for Galaxy On7 Pro and 8MP for Galaxy On5 Pro) and secondary camera (5MP for both).
The front camera can also recognise palm gestures to click selfies and is capable of clicking 120 degree wide "groupfies".


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Watch the 13 minutes of gameplay in this exclusive trailer for The Day Before thanks to IGN, a new open-world MMO survival set in a deadly, post-pandemic America overrun by flesh-eating infected and survivors slaughtering each other for food, weapons, and vehicles.
Check out the new 13-minute gameplay demo of The Day Before released by IGN gives a first look at how the game’s countryside looks and plays. Although this gameplay preview concentrates far more on the survival elements, This new video highlights the significance of vehicle maintenance, looting, and being careful of surroundings. After driving around for a bit, the two players in the demo fall upon an abandoned farm where the players trigger a security alarm that they fail to shut down. This immediately attracts undesired attention from both zombies and other players.
It’s listed as “Coming Soon” on Steam and Fntastic has shown a targeted 2021 release window. That’s not a long time between the announcement and release of the game, so it seems like fast progress must be happening behind the scenes. It’s likely gamers won’t have to wait long for The Day Before.
The Day Before will release for PC only. There’s no word on whether a beta test will take place before the complete launch, or if the game will make it to any other gaming systems.


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Ford tests Focus prototype in U.S. ahead of China launchJan. 22
If it's not a Scrambler, what is it?Jan. 22
BMW will add fwd model to X2Jan. 22
Hyundai keeps Nexo fuel cell's look understatedJan. 22
A floating car is born from the carnage of Japan's tsunamiJan. 19
Jeep sees banner year with new products, Manley saysJan. 18
Hyundai Veloster gets more muscularJan. 15
Hyundai is reviving its Veloster hatchback for the 2019 model year with a new platform and the brand's first-ever N performance model for the U.S. market, along with a more muscular design akin to a sport coupe.
Ford to reveal 2018 Mustang Bullitt at Detroit auto showJan. 10
Ford is planning a surprise reveal of a special edition, high-performance Mustang Bullitt GT at next week's Detroit auto show, Automotive News has learned. The Bullitt will be unveiled as a 2018 model, a source said, timed for the 50th anniversary of the eponymous Steve McQueen movie that made the car an icon among enthusiasts.
Lexus LF-1 stresses style over utilityJan. 15
Lexus' new crossover concept defines a fresh segment for the luxury automaker: a light truck focused more on style and driving dynamics than utility. The LF-1 Limitless is described as a flagship crossover and the spiritual brother of the new-generation LS flagship sedan.


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On January 31, the government of Barbados and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) presented a webinar titled, Traversing the Metaverse: A Caribbean Perspective.
The Barbados government previously announced in November, last year, that it would be establishing a virtual embassy, signing an agreement with virtual world builder Decentraland.
Barbados is also exploring strategic partnerships to create sovereign virtual real estate with other virtual world builders, including Somnium Space and Superworld.
Rodney Taylor, secretary general of the CTU introduced the first panel which discussed the current state of virtual play, noting the importance of leadership and adoption by Caribbean governments in rapidly emerging technologies.
“Government policy is critical,” Taylor said, “but it is not the only ingredient.
“There must also be a corresponding demand by citizens and significant private sector capacity to innovate and provide technological solutions in the local economy.
“The one thing we must not do in the region is to relinquish all technological innovation to the so-called developed countries and be consumers of products residing in a distant cloud.”
The panel’s host was Gabriel Abed, Barbados’ Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, a board member of Ansa Bank and chairman of its digital subcommittee.
According to Abed, the metaverse that’s coming won’t be a pay to play space. Anyone with time, skills and a device to connect should be able to participate.
“There isn’t a need for investment,” Abed said, urging restraint in spending on the metaverse, “but I would advise that you not do that until you have figured your way around. I would start the learning campaign first.”
The discussion he led with Hrish Lotlikan, founder and CEO of Superworld and Borget Sebastien, COO, Sandbox Metaverse, sought to do exactly that.
The approaches taken by Superworld and Sandbox to virtual reality differ in interesting ways.
Sandbox is building a virtual world with avatars, the same principle that is used in modern massive multiplayer role player games (MMORPG), but with its own blockchain-secured, token-based currency.
Superworld is leaning in on augmented reality (AR) and VR to create a world that’s layered on top of the metaworld that we live in.
“The metaverse is a combination of your life online (and) offline,” Lotlikan said.
“It encompasses virtual worlds and platforms. Essentially it is a persistent interface that enables you to do anything that you love and enhances life, your work, your play, literally every aspect of your life.
“Superworld is a virtual world mapped on top of the real world. Everything in Superworld is around us.”
Superworld sells 100m square plots of virtual real estate for 0.1 of an Ethereum token (roughly US$300) and it isn’t some remote concept.
The Burj Khalifa in the UAE is currently available for resale at 50 ethereum and nine plots have already been purchased in Trinidad.
Superworld user @drone owns half of the Hasely Crawford Stadium, but hasn’t marked up his purchase for resale yet.
Superworld also partnered with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency to mint a fund-raising NFT (https://www.disaster-fighters.org/nft/)
Borget Sebastien, chief operating officer of Sandbox Metaverse explained that his company’s approach was “…about being able to access new types of experiences that are more immersive through a series of digital parallel universes through an avatar, a 3D representation of yourself that you can carry across all those multiple worlds.”
The company, launched in 2011, has created several partnerships that now exist in the Sandbox metaverse with businesses as diverse as the South China Morning Post, Snoop Dogg and The Walking Dead.
In the Sandbox, Sebastien says, “Your identity is actually yours, it can be moved across different applications, services and worlds, which is not currently the case in many so-called metaverses.”
“(Those) are essentially virtual worlds or video games which are closed environments owned by one single entity (who is) operating it and not allowing their users to carry that digital identity asset or currency across the board.”
Regarding Facebook’s rebrand to Meta and insistence on a refreshed commitment to building a metaverse, Sebastien found little in the announcements that convinced him of a real plan to build a persistent, open digital world.
“It is not enough,” Sebastien said.
“The core of their business model, which is (built) around user data collection does not push toward the free web and user community and a less centralised approach. They left out everything that would have been of benefit to users.”
The Sandbox metaverse has its own internal currency, Sand, which is described as an ERC-20 token, making it a peer equivalent with Ethereum and Bitcoin.
Sandbox users can also purchase land and create assets, accumulating value through engagement and creative input.
Participants are able to monetise their presence and digital assets in the universes they create through the use of NFTs and blockchain technology.
There are 18,861 unique virtual landowners using two million token wallets in the Sandbox metaverse.
Superworld is also grappling with developing technologies and emerging virtual world conceptualisations as it builds out its virtual map of the world. The company currently has 2,927 landowners.
“Superworld is focused on becoming a gateway to the real world for other persistent virtual worlds,” said Lotlikan.
“We’re doing this to provide services at the highest level.”
Having a return on time spent in virtual worlds, Lotlikan believes, is one way that the metaverse will grow and increase in value.
“How do we leverage these technologies to enhance people’s real lives, how do we help to build a better world? How do we collectively take all these activities and do something very positive for the world?”
How do we take these tokenomics mechanisms and apply them to real life activities and people’s passions?”
“Centralisation is not the future of the metaverse. The concept of creating open, interoperable models, this is what’s going (to be the future).”
Borget Sebastien described the evolution of the open Internet:
* Web 1.0 – The publication of information on the internet that is made available for the free consumption of visitors. Visitors do not generally contribute to this version of the web.
* Web 2.0 – The social web. The platform and the content evolve as users keep contributing to it. The rise of user generated content. That content is being created by users, but it is controlled by a few entities. The value of that information is retained by the hosting entities and does not go back to its creators. When it does, it’s a trickle.
* Web 3.0 – Is being built on the premise that users should own their data and the way they sign into services and applications.
In next week’s Newsday Business Day, governance in the virtual worlds of the metaverse


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COVID-19 accelerated a number of economic trends, but its biggest impact may be in accelerating financial inequality. The pandemic took a disproportionate toll on low-income Americans and people of color. Now, as we look to the post-pandemic future and the U.S. economy starts to recover, some groups continue to fare significantly worse than others, including Blacks, Hispanics, millennials and mothers. Building and supporting a more inclusive financial system must be a priority.
One of the biggest challenges? Addressing the “credit invisible” or those without credit history. Roughly one in ten American adults struggle to access credit because they’ve never accessed it before. And, a disproportionate share of these 26 million Americans are Black or Hispanic - with more than 12.5 million living in areas deemed “credit insecure” and lacking formal credit opportunities. These individuals may rely on high-cost alternative financial products and services such as check cashing services or pawn shop loans to meet their day-to-day financial needs, worsening their economic situation.
Join Equifax United States Information Solutions President Sid Singh; Chris Wheat, co-President of the JPMorgan Chase Institute; and Kahlil Byrd, co-Founder and CEO of Invest America, for a discussion on how the industry can help more of these consumers obtain access to mainstream financial services and the role of alternative data - information not found in traditional credit reports - in building a more inclusive financial system.
Sid Singh, President of USIS, Equifax
Chris Wheat, Co-President, JPMorgan Chase Institute
Peter Maynard, SVP of Data & Analytics, Equifax
Kahlil Byrd, Founder and CEO, Invest America
Webinar broadcast date: 6/24/2021
For more on how you can navigate this time of economic uncertainty, visit our Market Pulse page.


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Boots has launched some cash saving deal days with massive offers available for shoppers.
The store have a number of ways we can save some cash while lockdown rules ease and it includes certain days of the week where you can benefit from specific deals.
For instance, yesterday saw the introduction of £10 Tuesday, which featured products from Olay and No7 to Clinique and La Roche Posay, Boots had some of the UK's favourite skin care products on special offer, saving you up to £21.
Then, today the high street favourite has another unmissable deal with a free gift at stake.
Shoppers can pick up an exclusive and free Aromatherapy Associates giftset, worth £33, when you spend £50 on Aromatherapy Associates products via Boots.com.
You will be able to go into stores and shop online the freebie from today (June 17 until June 23).
While the store holds more day specific discounts for shoppers, there will still be regular deals to pick up- including these affordable baby offers available on their website as of today.
The Boots deals days are set to continue for the next week. Despite many high street stores opening their doors after lockdown measures were lifted in some areas of the UK, many are also launching online sales to encourage online shopping.


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I am craving good news, and am constantly looking for good news stories. Please send me good news stories you have. Solar power dominates the good news, but wind energy and Ashley Biden are heroes also.
2. China doubled their solar power in 2016. They now have more solar power than any other nation. Read about it here.
3. Ashley Biden, daughter of Vice President Joe Biden, Has her own made in the USA clothing line and donates the profits!
4. Another fun story at Texas A&M. Texas A&M’s bike lane glows due to a solar luminescent paint. It soaks up the sun’s rays during the day and emits light when it gets dark. The lane is also the nation’s first to receive the Federal Highway Administration’s approval for the green coating it used.
5. Wind energy breaks a record. On February 12, a wind power record was broken for the Southwest Power Pool, states from Montana to Louisiana. Over 52% of the electricity for fourteen states was generated by wind power. The entire story: wind power
Please send me other stories of things that are making the world a better place. Thank you.
Earlier this year as I read about China’s pollution problems I thought, “They are polluted because they make products for the United States!” We have exported our jobs, manufacturing and pollution, and some of that pollution is finding its way back across the Pacific Ocean.
There is evidence that China is exporting pollution from their manufacturing back to the United States. China has lax manufacturing standards in every area and now their extreme carbon pollution is crossing the Pacific Ocean to pollute California, Oregon and Washington State.
What about products made in India? Experts have long known that India’s air is among the worst in the world. A recent analysis by Yale researchers found that seven of the 10 countries with the worst air pollution exposures are in South Asia.
Carbon Pollution is a global issue. There are many things you can do and shopping for American made products is one of those things. Buying USA made is green and creates needed jobs here in our own country. I have been trying to do this for over 20 years and it is tough, but I feel better about my purchases. Yes, sometimes it is impossible, but consumer demand can bring some of those jobs and products home.
“According to a recent study, up to 25% of air pollution on the West Coast is floating over from China. Sadly, we’re directly responsible for much of that pollution. The study tied a significant amount of Chinese pollution to the production of goods for export to the United States and other countries.
Of course, the pollution we now know is drifting to our coast comes on top of the pollutants actually in the products themselves and the huge amount of pollution cargo container ships create. According to other studies, the largest 15 cargo container ships create more pollution than all the cars in the world combined, due to the nearly unrefined fuel they burn.
I saw firsthand in China that environmental laws are much less stringent and often ignored completely. Walking outside, the air was so thick it was like I was smoking cigarettes 24/7. In spite of the occasional PR push by Chinese government authorities, the pollution situation just continues to get worse there.
However, “there” is not as far away as it may seem. Sure they are seeing the worst of it, but there is no doubt that pollution is affecting us here the USA as well. In fact, experts already estimate that Los Angeles experiences at least one extra day per year of smog exceeding safe ozone levels because of pollution from China.”
“It’s not shopping in itself that’s so harmful, it’s what we buy,” says information released by Adbusters. “As consumers, we should question the products we buy and the companies who produce them.”
SO, How can we become better consumers? We have incredible power with our consumer dollars. How can we use that power wisely?
Why would you want to reinforce corporate greed with your purchases when we can support local green home grown businesses? This holiday shop where business are trying to do right by our earth and for their employees. Every year I am amazed at the creative businesses I discover…… Imagine all the wonderful small green businesses we could reinforce with our wallets.
Everyone wants to save money, but you are not saving money when you purchase lots of cheap junk that will end up in the land fill next year!. About 8 years ago, I stopped shopping Target, and was surprised by the money saved because I was avoiding lots of cheap products we could live without. One of the best things we can do for our planet is to consume less.
We can use our dollars to support local, green, and homegrown businesses. We can shop for quality and keep dollars in our own communities.
My ten tips for Health4earth holiday shopping:
1. Always shop with your reusable bags, and avoid plastic.
2. Read the labels and ask where products are manufactured. Local craft fairs of handmade items are wonderful for holiday gifts.
3. Shop businesses that pay a living wage and businesses that sell fair trade items.
4. Shop local in your neighborhood, walk or take public transport if possible.
5. Reinforce businesses and restaurants that recycle and do not use styrofoam. I just learned the Mall Of America does NOT recycle bottles and cans.
6. Never buy products for children, including toys, made in China unless you are certain they are chemical free.
7. Avoid purchases from developing countries that lack regulation and enforcement of worker standards such as China, Bangladesh, and India. The closer to home our purchases are manufactured the better handle we have on working conditions and salary. Some countries do not enforce child labor laws! You can be confident “fair-trade” doesn’t have these problems.
8. Purchase for quality and things that will last. A friend’s new apartment refrigerator lasted 3 years, and it was replaced instead of repaired. That must end!!
9. Don’t forget consignment and reuse businesses.
10. Always recycle packaging and purchase products with minimal packaging.
Below are some great sensible businesses that care about our earth and their employees.


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Whole Foods’ New Health Incentive (Lower Discounts for Fat Folks) Causes Controversy
Whole Foods is now offering higher discounts to non-smoking employees who have low cholesterol, normal blood pressure, and healthy weights. Smokers, heavy-set employees, and/or those with high cholesterol and blood pressure will be fired, fined, beaten, and thrown in a store dumpster.
No. Actually, they’ll just continue to get the regular 20 percent discount. In fact, the plan is voluntary. Workers who sign up for it will receive free health screenings and be placed in one of four categories. Employees in the platinum category will receive a 30 percent discount, those in the gold category will earn a 27 percent discount, and workers in the silver and bronze categories will get 25 percent and 22 percent discounts, respectively.
Personally, I hope other companies will take similar measures to give people an incentive to adopt healthier habits. While some Whole Foods’ employees surely purchase the store’s low-fat vegan items or have other healthy habits, many simply need the work and don’t necessarily adhere to the company’s healthy “philosophies.”
With the current health-care crisis in America, we should encourage non-smokers who maintain a healthy weight and safe cholesterol and blood pressure levels. In fact, I previously wrote a post explaining why I believe that healthy vegans deserve discounted health insurance. People who eat plant-based foods, which are cholesterol-free and generally low in saturated fat, are known to have lower rates of many diseases.
Certainly, there are many medical conditions that aren’t diet-related and don’t involve lifestyle choices, but Whole Foods’ plan focuses on those that are. In short, it rewards employees who make healthy choices and gives those who do not another reason to do so—while not “punishing” them if they choose not to.
However, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance is outraged at Whole Foods’ new program, as are some Whole Foods customers and employees. They feel the program rewards people who are naturally thin and discriminates against heavier people. But while the plan is intended to help employees slim down–and lower the company’s healthcare cost; weight is not the only factor that determines the discount rate.
Some people have also criticized Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey for opposing President Obama’s healthcare plan. In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, Mackey pointed out that many of the nation’s health care problems are “self-inflicted” and encouraged Americans to eat a vegan diet.
As far as I’m concerned, it simply stands to reason that Mackey should encourage his own employees to make healthier choices.


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Declutter your digital workplace and take back control of your device. Minimalism is on the rise, both offline and online.
A place where we share our thoughts and stories written by some great authors we collaborate with, together with news from Mudita.
The National Day of Unplugging takes place from sundown to sundown, from the 6th to the 7th of March.
Mudita Pure’s first prototype was tested at Verkotan (a FINAS and ILAC accredited testing laboratory) in Finland.
As a humane technology company, by providing solutions making users' everyday lives more mindful and slow, we’ve got slowness in our DNA.
We’ve decided to postpone the shipment of Mudita Pure and plan to start shipping in September/October 2020.
At Mudita, we encourage a healthier relationship with technology. As we’re present on social media, we feel it’s important to provide our mission statement.
It can be very easy to give up, log in and sign up. This can happen when we rely too much on what goes on online, we start to forget how to live offline.
Intellectual growth is in reverse. And it’s not a comment to the social or political situation or to the conditions of media, but a scientific fact.
Like many other millennial females from Los Angeles, I am very self-aware that I spend too much time on my phone. What happened during my 24 hours without it?
Learn to unplug from the online world so you can reconnect with the world right here, right now. This blogpost was written by the authors of Minimalism Life.
We are happy to inform you that our debut product campaign on Kickstarter was a success, exceeding our initial goal by 262%, thanks to more than 1,000 backers!
We want to thank all of you that follow and support Mudita. It shows us that our mission is shared by many people all over the world.
Personal experiences of the founder of Mudita had a major impact on the decision of establishing it. We asked Michal to tell his story in a short documentary.
The World Health Organization (WHO) released new guidelines on how much time children under five should spend in front of a screen.
Children quickly absorb content and change their habits, they get bored easily and studies show that almost 50% of school-age children use smartphones.
Electromagnetic fields and their possible impact on human health is a subject of worldwide discussion, not only among scientists.
An interview with Jacek Siadkowski, founder of Gerere, a Tech for Good agency that specializes in digital products with a high social impact.
The third article in the blog series of our guest writer, Jadelin Pikake Felipe. She writes about her research on college students intentionally unplugging.
If you look around your home, you’ll probably see a lot of electronic devices. As you might already know, these devices emit electromagnetic radiation (EMF).
For years, scientists from all over the world have been voicing their concerns with regards to mobile radiation, i.e. the kind emitted from smartphones.
It isn't only humans who are at risk with regards to the potential health effects of being exposed to mobile radiation (EMF). Plants are at risk too.


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LG Electronics has agreed to pay General Motors $ 1.9 billion to cover the costs of a Chevy Bolt EV manufactured by a South Korean supplier that could cause the batteries to catch fire.
GM has spent $ 2 billion to retrieve and repair each Chevy Bolt car it has produced since it began production in 2016.
The contract with LG covers almost all costs.
“LG is a valuable and respected supplier to GM, and we are delighted to have reached this agreement,” said Shilpan Amin, GM’s Vice President of Global Procurement and Supply Chain.
“Our engineering and manufacturing teams continue to work together to accelerate the production of new battery modules, and we will begin repairing customer vehicles this month.”
GM first remembered the Chevy Bolts in 2020 about faulty batteries, but then had to call a second time after some of the cars they repaired still burned out.
In July, a week before the second call, GM and federal regulators called on owners to stop Chevy bolts outside and away from their homes because of the risk of fire.
The National Road Safety Administration said at the time that the batteries in the 2017-2019 Bolt EVs were “likely to smoke and catch fire inside.”
The NHTSA warned that the fire could spread to the rest of the car and cause a fire if the car was parked in a garage or near a house.
GM shares rose sharply above the news and last rose 1 percent in market trading.
The NHTSA launched an investigation into the matter in October last year and recalled 51,000 damaged vehicles in the U.S. in November.
However, after the first call, there were at least 10 fires in Bolts, including one when the car was charging at the home of a Vermont lawmaker, according to Acesparks.
GM said in September that Bolt would not resume production or sales if the recall vehicle solves the fire hazard problem.


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Overall sales were up 8% to US$224m, with Agthia’s core agribusiness division bringing in US$145m of the revenue, around 65% of the total.
“The Group is focusing on growing its core businesses and improving performance of newly launched products. We continue to look for opportunities to keep up the growth momentum, not only in the UAE, but in other markets as well,” said Agthia chairman Dhafer Ayed Husain Al Ahbabi.
Agribusiness remains dominant
The agribusiness section made US$30.9m in profit, which Agthia attributed to improved sourcing of grains, benefits from bringing some animal feed production in-house, stable flour prices in the northern emirates, and a “favourable product mix”. Agthia said it is in the process of expanding its poultry feed operation, and plans to complete the capacity increases by the fourth quarter of the year.
Earlier this year Agthia rebranded its animal feed division as Agrivita, moving away from the Grand Mills name the business had operated under since 1978. The company retained the Grand Mills brand for its consumer flour products, which are also part of the agribusiness division.
Agthia’s consumer business division brought in US$79m in revenue for the period, up 7% year-on-year. The section is dominated by the company’s water and beverage operations, which include Al Ain mineral water, Yoplait dairy products and Capri-Sun drinks, bringing in US$63.4m in sales.
The first half saw Agthia open a new high-speed bottling plant and distribution centre. The company also launched new Monster energy drink beverages in June in some UAE outlets, with what it described as encouraging results.
Late baked goods drive loss
The consumer division’s smaller food unit struggled to perform, despite a 15% growth in revenue to US$15.6m. The division lost US$3.9m in the first six months of the year, which Agthia said was the result of depressed dairy margins, and up-front investment costs in its new frozen baked goods division.
The company also revealed the commercial launch of its frozen baked goods has been pushed back to the third quarter, blaming “external regulatory factors”.
Despite the food business’s loss, Agthia’s acting-CEO and CFO Iqbal Hamzah remained upbeat, and said both the agribusiness and consumer divisions had performed well, and reflected the company’s strategy of sustainable growth.
“The group's balance sheet is very strong, and we will continue seizing the right business expansion opportunities and enhancing our manufacturing capabilities. We expect 2014 to be another growth year for Agthia,” said Hamzah.
Outside of the GCC, Agthia said its Turkish water brand Alpin, launched last year, was growing steadily, with plans to increase capacity next year and expand distribution to the GCC. The company said its Egyptian operations were performing “in line with expectation”, and past restructuring activities were showing results.


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Palm's paid e-commerce beta program finally has a firm launch date—September 24. As previously noted, Palm developers that have been accepted into the app program will receive 70% of the proceeds from sales. [Digital Daily]
Palm Paid Apps Coming On September 24th
Trending Stories Right Now
Lime, the company whose business model is buying thousands of electric scooters and just sort of leaving them there in the hopes people will ride them, is on track to lose $437 million this year.
If you’re looking for a fast NBN plan, you’ve got a few ways to gauge performance. Providers self-report evening speeds, the ACCC has a quarterly report, or you could check out what Netflix has to say. Each month, Netflix releases a speed index report comparing prime time streaming performance across some of Australia's largest internet providers. Here's what it had to say this time around.


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Grand Forks-area fireworks stands see more sales
Published 07/03/2012, Grand Forks Herald
The Grand Forks-area night sky will once again be filled with bright lights and loud noises this Fourth of July with fireworks like “Rockin’ the Bakken” and “Minot Magic.” And Grand Forks firework retailers say pyrotechnics will be plentiful as sales are up and customers are purchasing big-ticket fireworks to celebrate the holiday.Word count: 692
The full article is available to newspaper subscribers. If you are a subscriber please log in to continue reading.


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Every Year, National CheeseBurger Day is celebrated on 18th September and this year the celebration is definitely going to be very cheesy!
Fast Food chain Mcdonalds have announced on 14th september that they will be selling their double cheeseburgers at 50 cent per burger on National Cheeseburgers day. A celebration that big to have four double patty cheese burgers in just 1 dollar, it’s just unbelievable but true.
For one day, cheeseburger fans can enjoy their favourite cheese burger from McDonalds for 50 cents, isn’t it just amazing. All you need to do is order through the Mcdonald’s app.
This offer is limited to one per customer and an app registration is a requirement. The App will be downloaded from Apple App Store and Android’s Google Play Store. The offer is only valid at participating stores nationwide.
Other Burger selling joints are also not behind, Wendy’s is selling its junior bacon cheeseburger for 1 cent for any purchase on its app from 18th september 2023 to 23rd september 2023.
Burger King also announced that it will be giving free cheeseburgers to the members of its Royal Perks Reward Program along with any purchase of $1 between 18th september till 24th september 2023.
After all, September is getting very cheesy for all of us.


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It looks like PlayStation 5 will be a big hit in this particular market as well.
The latest Sony console is preparing to arrive on Chinese territory on May 15th and, as in the rest of the world, demand appears to largely exceed supply. In fact, it took just 20 minutes to exhaust all 50 thousand PlayStation 5 made available for preorder.
Of course, 50 units seem to be very few compared to the huge number of Chinese gamers, but the well-known stock problems that Sony believes will also affect the whole of 2021 probably did not allow for a higher number of units to be made available.
However, the time in which all units are sold out hints at how well PlayStation 5 could sell in a young and numerous market like the Chinese one.
Given the demand for units around the world, it seems that in the years to come PlayStation 5 will be able to do even better than its latest, famous ancestor, which has just been elected as the console that has sold the most games in history, even surpassing the PlayStation 2.


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Since its launch in late 2019, Call of Duty: Mobile has amassed more than 600 million downloads across Android and iOS and for its newest achievement, and Tencent and Activation have earned over $1 billion from the game.
Activision’s annual report showed that Call of Duty: Mobile’s annual consumer spending was actually “well above” $1 billion last year. AppMagic – the source used for the figures in the report – based its data on developer payout and does not include the 30% cut from mobile platforms.
As far as spending goes, players in the US have spent more than half a billion ($554 million) on CoD: Mobile with Japan coming second with $138 million. Players in Germany have spent $32 million, another $30 million from Brazil while the UK has spent $27 million so far on the game.
During Activision’s 2021 annual report, it was revealed that Call of Duty: Mobile has amassed more than 650 million downloads, adding that last year’s monthly number of active players on mobile almost matched that of console and PC as well.
Despite the launch of new competitive titles like PUBG New State and Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Mobile continues to dominate the battle royale genre on mobile and with Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile around the corner, the franchise’s fan base on mobile seems certain to increase significantly.


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Andreas Illiger, creator of the iPhone hit Tiny Wings, told us he had a new app coming very soon, and now we know exactly when: July 12. That’s when Tiny Wings 2 is set to arrive, according to this extremely adorable handmade trailer video, which you can watch below. There’s no information at all on new features or gameplay, but you can probably expect that it’ll be more of that cute little bird trying to jump from hill to valley to hill, and going for as long as possible.
Illiger had originally promised something completely new back in May, but a recent tweet says that …
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Andreas Illiger announces Tiny Wings 2, coming next week